The Constitution and Each Person's Rights

Everyone loves to talk abou twhat right they have to do something.

This comes up most often in discussions about free speech.  Everyone wants to say they have the right to say what they want to say, show a picture they want to show, sing a song they want to sing, etc.. etc...

However, while the Constitution does give that right to expression, it says nowhere in the Constitution that others have to listen, see, view, or expose themselves to what someone else wants to express.

One person's rights end where the next person's rights begin.

Interestingly enough, there are too many people who seem to have the idea that just because they have the right to say something, it somehow means that everyone else is forced to accept it.

On the contrary, The Constitution grants the same rights to every individual.


Those rights are not just for some.  Many folks will be disappointed to realize that each person's expression is not a royal decree that everyone else is compelled to see or support.

If I know that someone is showing something  I find repulsive,  I can simply not go to view it, hear it, etc..   I can avoid it, ignore it and simply not experience it at all.

What's interesting is how people want to trick others into being exposed to their "expressions".

Instead of letting people know what it is, when, where, etc.. ahead of time so people can attend or avoid at their own discretion, they want to simply come out of the blue with their "expressions".

They want to force you to have to experience their expression whether you wanted to or not.  They somehow have the idea that once they have decided to express themselves that everyone else is just stuck with having to experience it.

Yes, if we can accidentally or un-knowingly stumble upon such an deceptive effort, we can quickly an of our our choice leave, re-reoute ourselves, etc.. to avoid it in the future at that point, place, time, etc..

Howwver, this shows that a person using such tactics has no responsibility for their actions.  They are forcing everyone else to be responsivble for dealing with itas they encounter it.

There is no respecting or taking "serious" someone who so blatantly abuses their rights by foisting their expression upon others irresponsibly.

Someone who ignores everyone else's rights to choose for themselves simply to create an audience for something they want to express.

Yes, we each have the right to express ourselves and not be punished for it by the government (that's what the First Amendment guarantees, you know), but we each also have the freedom to choose for ourselves what we are exposed to and experience.

One freedom does not beat the other.  We should always make the effort to practice our individual, personal freedoms responsibly.